Excursion
by MeridaVenture
Summary: Felicity and Ray need help with the Atom Suit. On a trip to Central City they get caught up in Barry's Meta-Human of the week crisis. Can Felicity out-think the meta-computer whiz, or will she get into trouble she's not ready for? Especially without Oliver as her back up.
1. Chapter 1

Ray's ATOM suit had been taking up a lot of her extra thought space. She loved puzzles, mostly because she loved challenges, and Ray's suit was both. She frequently drifted while thinking up new ways to get the suit functioning. She hated that Ray wanted it, felt that he needed it, but he had told her that regardless of her position on the subject and regardless of her intent to help, he was going to pursue it. After finally caving in, she accepted that he would be safer if she decided to throw her brain behind the project. Now, she couldn't stop. All of her free thoughts were how to program the suit and how wiring mechanisms could be condensed to fit in a thin layer and what kind of materials would react best with which programs.

She couldn't lie to herself, a project like this was fun for her. She had never done anything like it. It was challenging and new and made her to think in ways she hadn't before. She would never tell Ray this, of course. She was helping him, that didn't mean she had to encourage him. Or let him off the hook. She liked having Ray owe her a huge favor, or five.

She had toyed around with the idea of bringing the suit to Cisco to ask for help. She knew his skills and insights would be an unparalleled advantage. Not only would he improve the design of the suit, but he would probably help them finish it in half the time it would take without his help. There were two reasons she hesitated. The first, that she was not anxious to finish the suit. The sooner the suit was finished, the sooner Ray would start wearing it. An idea she was still working her head around. She could just picture it: Ray with his big suit on, patrolling Starling for criminals. He would be in pursuit of some robber or rapist in a back alley and then crash….right into Starling's original vigilante, the Arrow. The conversation that followed—not good, not good at all.

The second reason was much different. Everyone at star labs knew Oliver and his identity. They also knew that there were feelings between her and Oliver. That made things difficult. She didn't want to ask Cisco and Star Labs to lie for her and Oliver anymore. Further, they would have questions for her. Questions she didn't want to answer. Like, How are you and Oliver? Oh, Really? That Bad? And then you thought he died? And then you said what?! And now you're here with Ray? The guy who took Oliver's company and wants to be a vigilante too, and you lip-locked with him? She can only imagine.

Then there's the whole part where everyone would know what's going on but Ray, there would be this subtle subtext that everyone would pick up on, and Ray would feel it, and maybe ask questions. Questions with answers that were not her secret to tell.

So, she had held off asking Cisco. Now she was thinking she didn't have a choice. Both she and Ray were at the end of their genius limits. The thrill of the challenge was wearing off and now she felt like she was beating her head against cement. They needed the outside eyes.

She also wanted space from Oliver. It was harder being with him now that he had come back than it was before he left. It hurt more. She constantly carried around a weight in her chest, ever since the failed first date, but now when they were in the same room, the pain turned weirdly acute in an oddly unidentifiable way; unpleasant to say the least. She needed a long weekend to take her mind off things for a while. The streets had been quiet for a couple of days and they were in an interim of big bads. The timing seemed good for a brief hiatus.

She decided to call Ray now, while she still felt firm about her decision. He picked up on the fifth ring, a good indicator that he currently had his hands full with the suit.

"Hey! Tell me you figured out how to rewire the finger pieces. I just tried again, and got shocked for my efforts. I think part of building this suit is working on my pain tolerance levels. Only once my pain threshold reaches a certain level will my suit decide to work. I am already being tested."

He sounded put upon and frazzled. It was kinda cute really. She liked his cavalier approach to the project. It was a breezy reprieve to the intensity of Oliver.

"Sorry to disappoint, but no. No new ideas over here. My mind has come to a screeching halt. You should be proud of yourself. Nothing else has thwarted me so well—not since my MIT theses project that I named: It that shall not be named. My super virus came more naturally. But lets not talk about that, I don't want to examine the implications that my mind is more suited to destruction than creation. But I guess its perception, because the virus could have been used to ….I digress. No. No good news."

"I see. Well, no worries. I don't know if I really expected you to have come up with any new ideas since the last time I called you—four hours ago. Wait. I didn't call you, you called me. Why did you call?" His voice gradually increased in pitch as he realized he wasn't the one who made the call.

She and Ray worked well together. When it came to technology, they were in sync. It just clicked and they talked the same language. She loved it, most of the time. They also talked similarly and she didn't feel as self conscious around him as she did most people.

"You're right, I called you. And I do kind of have a new idea. We need help. That's my big idea. And I know exactly where were going to get it. Central City. I know people. They can help."

"You know people….That can help…" Ray said it as if he were analyzing serious new information. Then he erupted into a paragraph at a speed that impressed even her. "If you knew someone that could help, why didn't you enlist them earlier. Definitely could have used more eyes on this earlier. Why is this person willing to help? Why do you trust them with the suit? Do they know I want to wear it? Can we trust them? If they're a company, why don't I know about them? Why didn't you tell me earlier? Transporting this could be difficult. When do we leave?" There was not a single breath in all the questions.

"Which of those questions do you want me to actually answer?" She asked exasperated.

"Just the last one, I guess."

"Tomorrow. Early. I booked the copter and my friend has a landing pad set up. Pack up the suit tonight and be ready to go for a long weekend. I have two rooms at a nearby hotel."

"Well. You're efficient."

"Indeed I am. Don't forget, I had lots of practice as a secretary. This was kinda my thing."

"Sometimes I forget you did that. Such a weird thing for you. You're going to have to tell me why one of these days."

"Ahh Ray, why was I a secretary? It's a long story. And like all my other long stories, its one that I'm not ready to tell. Just believe me when I tell you, it wasn't all bad. I'll see you tomorrow." She hung up without waiting for any of his closing remarks. He had made her nostalgic and she was done talking. She looked down at her watch, only 11:30pm.

The night had been quiet and Oliver had been silent on the comms meaning there was nothing to report on the streets. She needed to stay until he got back though, to tell him she would be gone for a couple days. She knew he wouldn't be happy, but she also knew he wouldn't say anything against her going. They were on shaky ground and she knew he was scared of rocking the boat more. He would sigh and look a little forlorn and rub his thumb and forefinger together before looking up and saying, 'Do what you want,' in a way that made her feel slightly guilty which in turn made her mad because, what did she have to feel guilty about? Nothing, that's what.

She still hated when Oliver sounded defeated.

She heard steps on the grating of the stairs and braced herself for the talk.

As Oliver walked towards her he started talking. "Too quiet tonight. Eerily quiet. I know Brick went down a couple weeks ago, but there should still be more activity then what I'm seeing. I don't know, just feels off. Have you noticed anyth—. What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"What? I'm not looking at you like anything. I'm just normal looking at you. Normally. This is my face when it is looking at you. See?" She makes a bracingly normal face at him which must look more like a grimace because his expression became even more wary than before.

"Just tell me. Please."

"Fine. I am going out of town for a couple days. Like, three tops. And by out of town, I mean, to go visit Star Labs…. With Ray." She tacks on the end quickly hoping by saying it last and quickly he will overlook it and not say anything about it.

"With Ray? Is it a business trip?"

Damn.

"Umm. Not exactly. I mean, it's not for pleasure, certainly. But, maybe I would categorize it as a hobby. Ya, hobby is a good word. I need Cisco's help with it."

"You are going to Star Labs because Cisco needs to help you with yours and Ray's hobby? What are you doing with Palmer, Felicity?"

She knew this was going to happen. Oliver was not going to take Ray's plans well. At all. This was going to be bad. Not rock the boat bad, like capsize bad. Shit.

"I need you to not overreact. Please. Just hold back the angry words. Maybe sleep on it before deciding what you want to say? Or, maybe go punch a dummy or something before deciding to say something. I think that would definitely help. Or Both! Both is good…"

"Felicity!"

"I'm helping Ray build a super suit!" She practically screeched the words at his face, her voice pitched at least five octaves too high.

Oliver does the thing with his body where he goes extremely still, like barely breathing, muscles tensed, still. Like a cat gearing up for a pounce, like a snake before it: whatever, like some scary predatory animal before it kills. Bad. Very bad. He's thinking about killing Ray. I can see it.

"What the HELL is Ray building a super suit for? And why are YOU helping him?" He is so angry.

"Oliver, you don't have the monopoly on vigilante-ism. Laurel should have taught you that. And, for the record, I was against it at the beginning. But he was going to do it with or without me. With me? He has a chance of some modicum of success. I like him, he's a good friend and he deserves whatever help I can give him. Just like you." I say this forcefully so he knows if he pushes too hard, he's going to get a fight. And its just like I predicted. He rubs his fingers, his eyes go kinda kicked puppy-ish and the guilt immediately sweeps over me.

"Look, Oliver. I'm sorry. I know we have to talk about this. I know this raises some serious issues. You are not being irrational with your doubts and it doesn't entirely make sense that I'm helping him. But, I just can't do this now. Please, sleep, beat up some thugs, think about it for a couple days while I'm gone. I will answer and address all of your issues and qualms when I get back. I promise. Trust me."

He looks at her seriously. He doesn't say anything, but she know what he's thinking.

"When are you leaving?" is all he says.

"Tomorrow morning, early."

His fingers begin to rub again but all he says is, "Be safe," before stalking away to the back room to change out of his leathers.

Damn.


	2. Chapter 2: Central City

The copter touches down on top of the Star Labs landing pad, no doubt out of use for the last year or so. Felicity can see Cisco waiting by the door, his hand raised to blot out the sun and keep his long hair from his eyes. He has a wide grin on his face. She feels her face spread in a similar smile, her nerd side ready to geek out with him. Ray looks out and raises his hand in greeting before beginning to unbuckle himself from the pilot's chair as he shuts down his flying toy. Felicity grabs their overnight bags from the back before turning to open her door.

Ray beats her to it, swinging open her door for her before grabbing the duffels from her hands. He helps her scoot down making sure she has her feet before turning to open the back door of the helicopter to lift out the titanium case holding the parts of the malfunctioning suit. He then turns to Cisco with his hand outstretched.

"Ray Palmer, Palmer Technologies. Cisco Ramon?"

Felicity watches as Cisco grins and shakes Ray's hands excitedly. He then launches into an in-depth run down on some of Palmer Technology's more exciting projects. Felicity had called Cisco an hour ago to tell him they were coming. She figured it was fine as Cisco and Caitlin hadn't had a problem dropping in on her with no warning a couple months ago. And Cisco seemed more than excited at the opportunity to pick Ray's mind. She wouldn't be surprised if Ray tried to steal Cisco from Star Labs and Barry, though she knew that would never happen.

Felicity trails behind the two men, Ray carrying their bags and Cisco gesturing wildly while talking about the effects of titanium alloys on miniature robotics chips for programmable house robots. All very fascinating. She was keen to begin discussing the suit.

As they walk further into the lab she begins thinking about things she hadn't quite thought about yet. Like, was Ray going to find out about Barry? Woops, spaced that issue. And she called an hour ago; did Cisco even tell the rest of his team they were coming? Maybe not. This had the potential to turn sideways quickly.

As the three of them stand in the elevator to take them down to the secure lab area, Ray looks over at her and gives her a questioning glance. She quickly grins at him letting him know nothing's wrong. He accepts her response and then looks at Cisco, still gesturing wildly and talking a mile a minute, grins and gives him the thumbs-up. She nods knowingly; it was inevitable that Cisco and Ray would like each other.

"And that's how house robots will single handedly change the metal alloy production field forever. It's like energy renewal, we need to get creative!"

Ray is nodding along, his eyes glued to his surroundings, taking in the size of the labs and the large impressive equipment. The lab is spacious and has the sterilized clean feel of the inside of a hospital. Everything is steel and white and the computers have obviously high processing power. He looks at me and I know what he is thinking, how did she find these people? I just grin again.

Cisco leads them through the underground tunnels and Felicity grows more nervous with each step. As they turn the corner to the main lab, she sees Caitlin. Caitlin's hair is down and she is wearing a stylish wrap dress with sensibly high heels underneath her white lab coat. Felicity always wished she had a lab coat. Caitlin is holding a clipboard and squinting at a screen reading small numbers when she hears Felicity, Cisco, and Ray approach. She turns to see Felicity and the surprise is evident in her eyes. So Cisco hadn't told anyone they were coming….excellent.

"Felicity! Oh wow, it' so great to see you! What are you doing here? Is everything OK? Where is Ol—

She cuts Caitlin off before she can say Oliver's name. Ray doesn't know anything about Oliver, not that they're even friends, and she knows it would really complicate the whole, whatever it was going on between them.

"Caitlin!" Felicity squeals over her last words, giving her a big hug. In her ear she whispered, "He doesn't know, please don't say anything." She feels Caitlin nod and is immediately relieved.

Felicity leans back from the hug and gestures towards Ray, "Caitlin, this is Ray Palmer. He's my boss and the CEO at Palmer Technologies. We need help on a project that we've been working on."

Ray steps forward, his hand extended. "Pleased to meet you Dr. Snow," he says glancing down at the name embroidered on her white coat. "I appreciate you welcoming me here and being so willing to assist a total stranger."

Caitlin looks at Felicity as she says, "Well I don't know if I would call you guys strangers," she looks back at Ray, "Felicity has helped me, and the team, several times already. If you're a friend of hers, you're a friend of ours. And we always help friends."

Ray glances at Felicity before saying, "High praise, but I'm inclined to agree. Felicity is always worth helping. I am only glad that, in this situation, I get to ride her coattails."

At this point, Cisco interjects, "So, don't hold out! Show me what you're working on, if its got Felicity stumped, must be pretty cool." He says this as his shoulders roll over his hands as they rub together, eager to start tinkering with the new project.

Ray holds out the titanium suitcase wordlessly. He follows Cisco as he walks towards another room already working on the clasps. Felicity knows this is Ray testing Cisco. Ray hasn't said a word about what is inside the contents of the case, and he wont. He is going to let Cisco do all the talking. If Ray likes what he hears, he'll throw himself in. Felicity knows Ray won't be disappointed, quite the opposite.

Felicity turns to Caitlin, "They're going to busy for a little while, fancy a chat?" Caitlin is already nodding, leading her towards the little kitchenette area where she pulls out two coffee mugs.

Felicity tries to start it out, "So, how have you been…"

Caitlin snorts, "Oh no, we're not starting with me. Start spilling." She has one eyebrow raised, a slight smirk on her face, and both hands wrapped around the mug. She's expecting the gossip and Felicity can tell she thinks it's going to be good.

Felicity rolls it over in her head for a second, where to start? "So you've noticed Ray, then."

"Um. Yes. He has been duly noted. Consider his status as hot young billionaire/CEO as noticed. Proceed under the assumption I am not handicapped in anyway."

"Right. Okay. I have been working for Ray for a couple months now, and I really like him. He is a genius, funny, and understanding. He gets me. I get him. It's easy. We don't fight or even argue for that matter. As a boss, he gives me a lot of free time and a lot of leeway. I oversee my own projects and have the power to really change things and make a difference. It's everything I ever wanted in a job and in a boss. It's perfect, really."

"But, it's also complicated. I know that he has feelings for me now. A while back, he kissed me. I kissed him back. It was nice. Pleasant. But it hasn't happened since. And I still can't decide if I want it to happen again. He is charming, and attractive. And he does the freaking salmon ladder. Remember I showed that bar thing to you in the Arrow cave?" Felicity waits for Caitlin's nod before continuing. "Yup, seen Ray do that too. Sometimes I feel like Ray is a male me in Oliver's body." Felicity draws back after the last comment and her face squishes. "Ohhkaay. That sounded weird. Really weird. You understand though, right?"

Caitlin's eyebrows are raised as she looks at me. "Okay, let my just see if I'm following. You like Ray, he has kissed you and you find him attractive. But it's complicated. You told me why you think it's complicated, but let me take a stab at why _I _think it's complicated." She clears her throat somewhat theatrically, looks me straight in they eye, and says, "Oliver."

I sigh and my head drops. "Yeah. Oliver. But I'm…I'm not really ready to talk about that yet. Right now, Ray is complicated, but I know that at some point, it wouldn't be. With Ray, it would probably be really easy. I don't think Oliver and I will reach that point. Where things make sense and fall into place."

Caitlin feels for her friend. She can sense where Felicity's true affections lie, but she also knows it's complicated and chooses not to push on what is clearly still and open wound.

"Okay, so I still don't know exactly what you and Ray are doing here. What's the project? Oh, and does Ray know about Barry?"

"Ray knows nothing about Barry. I have never mentioned him. But, if it comes down to it and Ray finds out, I know we can trust him to not say anything." Felicity is sure on this point and wants to make sure that Caitlin knows she trusts Ray with this implicitly. "We are here because Ray is working on a suit, a super suit. And we are royally stuck."

"A super suit? Like a super-hero suit? Like, Iron Man-ish? Or like a super suit for the military, or…" She trails off, her mind searching for other uses of a super suit.

"The first one," Felicity bites her lip and her shoulders tense. This was another complication.

"Ray wants to wear this super suit, doesn't he? He wants to be Starling's next hero…" Caitlin's eyebrows raise higher and higher and realization dawns on her slowly. "You are helping yet another vigilante take up the mantle of super hero to save Starling. Ray does not know anything about Oliver. Oliver has to know of Ray, but does he know what you're helping Ray with?" Caitlin is confused, she can not see Oliver as the Arrow being okay with his IT specialist helping another man with romantic feelings for her encroach on his territory, in every sense of the word.

"I told him last night." Felicity says while cringing.

"I take it, it went poorly."

"It was a small tiff, yeah."

"Oh Felicity, life really is not very fun right now, is it?"

"Nooooo. Its really not." Her voice comes out sounding slightly babyish. "Let's go check on Ray and Cisco. I want to see if Cisco has already solved one the numerous issues on the suit.

Felicity and Caitlin walk back into the main lab area and Felicity realizes Dr. Wells has not yet made an appearance. "Where is Dr. Wells, Caitlin? I thought he would be here already?"

"Sometimes, when it's slower he doesn't come in until mid-morning. I can't blame him, sometimes nights are really long."

"Yeah, tell me about it."

"He should be arriving shortly, he can maybe take a peek at the suit as well."

"I know Ray will be excited to meet him. What about Barry? I know he doesn't work here during the day, but do you think we will run into him?"

"He doesn't usually come in until later in the day. Sometimes he comes in on his lunch break, but usually he just comes after he's done with work. If you're here long enough, I'm sure you'll get to see him."

"Good. I wouldn't want to miss him." Just as Felicity trails off she hears a large bang and then the sound of metal hitting solid ground and then Cisco starts hopping on one foot while holding the other in his hand.

"Sorry, Sorry! Slippery little thing. I was trying to screw this little wire in and my hand slipped and I knocked the thing…"

Ray looks up at Felicity grinning. His shirt sleeves are rolled up his jacket hangs on a chair, and his eyes are excited. He looks good. Obviously Cisco passed the test with flying colors and after only thirty minutes, Ray is already impressed.

"Cisco already fixed the finger problem. The one I was working on last night? The one that shocked me, repeatedly, for months? Cisco is incredible. This place is amazing, I want to buy it. It already has the helicopter pad on top and…."

Felicity tunes out and instead looks at him: his exuberance and excitement, the way he seems happy and buoyant. She could be happy with this man. Their life filled with love of technology and happy moments with a shared passion. Why does that sound so boring to her?

She is pulled out of her reverie by her name being called.

"Felicity. Felicity!"

She jerks and looks up. Barry and Dr. Wells have walked in together. Barry has jeans and a green t-shirt on and wears his usual boyish grin. Dr. Wells has his usual black shirt on and maintains his steady aloofness while also extending his welcome.

"Ms. Smoak, a pleasure. What brings you to Central City so suddenly?"

Before she can begin to answer, Ray and Cisco walk out of the room, drawn by the new voices.

"Dr. Wells, Barry, this is Ray Palmer, CEO of Palmer Technologies. He's also a friend and we came to ask for Cisco's help on a project that we're working on. Ray, these are my friends Dr. Harrison Wells and Barry Allen." I gesture at each as I say their names.

Ray shakes both of their hands while thanking them for their help and the use of their lab while Barry looks towards Felicity and nods towards the kitchenette space. Felicity heads towards the area and knows that Ray wonders why she is being a little secretive.

"So, does Ray know about me?" Barry asks right away. He doesn't seem upset, just curious. Felicity sighs in relief. Why can't all hooded heroes be so open and genuine?

"Nope, not a thing. I mean, I think he knows your name now. So that's something. But you should also know that I trust him. If he were to find out, you have nothing to fear. I promise."

Barry grins. "Felicity, I know you would never bring anyone down here that we couldn't trust. I trust you and if you say he's cool, then he's cool. Besides, Cisco is acting like he has a new best friend." Barry is totally right. Cisco is still talking a mile a minute and she catches Ray laughing. Dr. Wells has also started asking questions about the suit and she knows this trip was worth it. After spending a couple days here they will be well on their way to having an operational and functioning suit.

They spend the rest of the day working on the suit and the group forms a comfortable team. Like Starling, Central City has been slow on criminal activity and everyone has had time to help make contributions to the suit. Felicity is sitting in the reclining swirly seat behind the computer desk waiting for several of her updates to the Star Lab computers to finish. Ray and Cisco are working on one of the suits arms, and Caitlin is checking the finger components for body regulation functions. Felicity is enjoying herself, surrounded by people who think like her. But, it's getting late and her stomach has started growling.

"Ray!" She calls out, "I'm hungry and it's getting late. We're here for another two days. Lets give Cisco and Caitlin a break. We can come back early tomorrow and start back up." She knows Barry is going to be back soon and then their nighttime activities will start up. She doesn't think Ray is ready for that information quite yet.

She and Ray pack up for the day and say their goodbyes to Caitlin, Cisco, and Dr. Wells.

"We'll be back!" Felicity says happily as they walk out the door.

They check into their hotel after dinner, a quiet casual affair at a deli/bakery around the corner of the hotel.

Their rooms are next door to each other and as they swipe their keys for access, Ray turns and looks at Felicity.

"Thanks for today, thanks for everything. I know that for some reason, I had to earn your trust before you were wiling to call these friends, but I want you to know that I am glad, and honored, that I did. Thank you."

Ray's words feel nice. They feel warm and honest and they heat the two glasses of wine she had at dinner in her stomach. But as she thinks warm thoughts of Ray, she pictures Oliver in her mind and the look he had before she left the previous night. She looks at Ray and she leans up and quietly kisses Ray on the edge of his lips, catching mostly cheek.

"Your Welcome, Ray. Goodnight."

The next day, Ray and Felicity had been at Star Labs for several hours when everything turned south.

Barry barreled into the lab at flash speed, scattering papers everywhere and lifting Felicity's skirt a little too high for comfort. But before she can begin to fret if anyone saw too much of her green lace panties, she sees the look on Ray's face. Oh shit. His jaw seems to be swinging it's gaping so wide, puts her in mind of Jim Carrey in The Mask. His eyes are wide and his eyebrows are near his hairline. There will be no covering this up.

Barry erupts with news. "There was an attack this morning. Did you notice it? It was the computers. Every single computer in the city was hacked. We don't know why. They didn't seem to take anything, nobody was harmed, and everything seems completely normal. But the station knows that every single computer with access to Wi-Fi was hacked. Including the ones at the station. Are we sure nothing happened here?"

Felicity can answer these questions. "We weren't hacked and we didn't notice anything. I told Wells a couple months back that while he could, he should purchase his own satellite and use that as his web access. It would be 95% more secure and give him unparalleled speed and power for computer processing. He listened. So no, Star Labs is protected from that kind of hack. Your secret is still safe."

Barry looks relieved. "Okay, good. This is kind of perfect timing Felicity. We could really use your help on this one."

"Of Course, anything I can do to help."

"Yes, Ms. Smoak, excellent timing." However, Dr. Wells is not looking at Felicity but at Ray who seems to have finally picked up his jaw and loosened his face muscles. Ray is not looking at Wells, but is looking at her. His brows are now furrowed and he seems to be thinking deeply while studying her. This is not good. She feels like the three of them are in an old western gun duel where everyone has a pistol pointed at someone else and nobody is willing to fire. Ray is putting two and two together, Wells is looking at Ray considering his trustworthiness and she is looking at both of them wondering who is going to start talking first.

As it turns out, it's Ray. "So Barry is the Flash. Interesting. You really are as fast as I've been reading about. I was wondering if you were real, as real as Starling's elusive vigilante. But this makes a lot of sense. Star Labs as your base of operations, perfect. And you're surrounded by scientists and doctors to help you with your needs and questions, all the while there's enough technology to ensure that you can crime fight and track your body's mutations. Cisco built your suit, Caitlin is your doctor and Dr. Wells oversees the whole outfit. Brilliant!"

Everyone is staring at Ray, and he abruptly realizes too late that his little revelation was not comforting to those around him. "I wont tell, I promise. I mean, that would be highly hypocritical seeing as you are doing for this city exactly what I plan on doing for my own." He turns to Barry and says, "I would never say anything to endanger your life or the lives of your team."

Barry looks at Felicity and says, "I know. Felicity wouldn't have brought you here if she thought you were a possible threat. I trust her." He turns back to Ray, "She tells me you're pretty smart too, maybe you could help us on this one."

Ray looks between her and Barry and I know he is drawing conclusions, he knows there's more history there that he doesn't know. All he says is, "Of course, anything you need that I can give. I am glad to be able to pay you back after all the help you have given me on the suit. Let me know what I can do."

Dr. Wells seems satisfied by Ray's response and she can feel the tension easing in the room.

Dr. Wells turns to Barry, "Is there any evidence that this is a meta-human? What are the facts?"

Barry turns to Dr. Wells and begins to tell him what he knows. "We know that 650,000 computers were hacked simultaneously this morning. No one has reported missing files, but each hacked computer has the symbol fucked in the Wi-Fi settings. Last night, cops were called to a warehouse is the East district where there were reports of power lines down. The officers are dead, electrocuted. The voltage passed through them in a precise, whip like pattern not possible under the premise of natural electrocution. This is all of the information. It could be meta, it could not be, can't say for sure."

Ray looks at Felicity with a question in his eyes.

"Meta-human," explains Dr. Wells for her. "Humans with unnatural abilities like Barry's acquired sometime during the reactor's explosion. We have come up against several that have unstable mental states and have tired to cause harm in the city. This team acts as a barrier to amoral meta-humans and the rest of city."

"So you are essentially acting as a team of superheroes fighting super villains. That is brilliant." He then glances at Cisco, "I was thinking of trying to persuade you to join Palmer Technologies, I have less than no chance, do I?"

Cisco laughs and says, "Man, I have the best gig in the world here. You couldn't persuade me if you told me I was building the new space station for Mars."

Thats when it hits. The lights shut off and the whirring of the large vents stops, indicating that even the generators have been shut off. After a moment of utter silence in the pitch black of the lab, Caitlin asks, "Felicity, didn't I just hear you say that our labs are safe to 95% of these hacks?"

Felicity gulps. "Umm yes, I did day that. Which, I should tell you, makes this very bad. It means the private satellite was hacked, which, I should tell you, is nearly impossible. There are thousands of satellites orbiting the earth above us. Finding the correct one and overriding the control systems is not easy. Not to mention, _I _set up this satellite. I really did not believe anyone would be able to hack it. I mean, I have only been hacked once in Starling and Oliver didn't even give me my own satellite!"

The lights still have not turned on and Felicity is beginning to panic. She has never felt comfortable in the pitch dark and she knows this spells bad news. Felicity is just about to open her mouth to interrupt the bickering about where the flashlights are kept when one of the screens on the computer switches on.

An eerie face erected from code appears on the screen and everyone immediately stops talking.

The computer begins to speak is a soothing low feminine voice, "I know your secret Barry Allen and I know what you do at night Dr. Wells." The face in the computer does not appear to be angry or have any discernable emotion at all. It acts only as moving lips. Felicity stands closest to the screen and senses the computer turning to face her. "I know you, Felicity Smoak. I know what you created and I know what you fear. Prepare yourselves, this will not be a pleasant experience." The computer screen returns to black and for several seconds everyone stands in utter silence in the claustrophobic black of the room.

Several seconds later, the lights flicker and the sounds of the generators restarting can be heard. The lights let everyone breathe for a second, while also revealing the group's attempts to avoid eye contact.

Felicity sees her phone on the desk next to the computer that just held the talking face. She needs to call Oliver. Her insides feel mushy and she can feel the panic in the back of her throat. She palms her phone and looks up to find everyone looking at her.

"I'll be right back, I need to make a phone call," her voice quavers and she knows Ray is looking at her sympathetically. She turns her back to the group to make the call.

She knows just hearing Oliver's voice will make her feel more safe.


End file.
